Naval battle game



Patented Mar. i942 Frederick W. Channer, Glencoe, Ill.

Application March 12, 1940, Serial No. 323,599

1 Claim.

The game of the present invention is intended to portray various maneuvers characteristic of a naval battle, and in the playing of the game, the

elements of chance are combined with the judgother a special die which determines the effect of gunfire within the permissible range of the various war vessels.

Further objects and details of the invention will appear from a description thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, where- Figure 1 is a plan view of the board or chart representing the site of a naval battle;

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are views of the various types of war vessels employed;

Fig. 6 is a composite view showing the different faces of a conventional die; and

Fig. 7 is a composite view showing the various faces of the special die which determines the effect of gunfire.

The chart A on which the game is played is of rectangular shape and may be in the form of a stiff card or flexible fabric of any convenient size, but, as shown, is of oblong rectangular configuration.

The game .board is symmetrically divided to afford two outer regions B which may be referred to as the maneuvering regions of the respective enemy ships, and an intermediate region C which may be referred to as the battle area. These three regions are separated or defined by convexedly-facing arcuate lines D-D which indicate the lines of travel of the respective war ships which move in the same direction, that is, from left to right, viewing the board as in Fig. 1.

range and the medial or narrow area G representing the cruiser range. Each of the maneuvering range areas is provided with a plurality of spaces H which collectively constitute a naval base for the reception of the tokens shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The tokens represent various types of war vessels as follows: I represents an aircraft carrier, J a battleship, K a cruiser, and L a destroyer. For convenience of illustration, certain of the spaces in the naval base at the upper side of Fig. 1 are left vacant while those at the lower side are shown as fully occupied by the warships of the various types. As shown, each of the players is provided with one aircraft carrier I, two battleships J, three cruisers K and six destroyers'L. The arcuate lines of travel D are equally sub-divided into spaces M which are numbered in numerical sequence from I to Hi as shown, although a greater or lesser number of divisions might be provided. Each of the maneuvering regions is provided with a space N for the reception of enemy warships sunk in action and referred to as Davey Jones locker.

The ordinary or conventional die 0 shown in Fig. 6 has on its six faces the usual dots indicating numerical values of from 1 to 6. The die P shown in Fig. '7 is of special formation having on four of its faces the word Hit; on one of the faces Direct hit; and on the opposite face Bad gunnery.

With the various physical instruments above described,'including a'game board divided and sub-divided in the manner indicated, the game is played as follows: The two players representing enemies at war occupy opposed positions and are prepared to move their respective war vessels in the same direction so as to maintain the conflict throughout the respective lines of travel from one end of the board to the other. The

40 battleships and the aircraft carrier have effective Arcuate lines of travel converge toward the center but are distantly spaced at all points which gives to the battle area what might be termed an hour-glass configuration having a progressively narrowing width as the center is approached, and a progressively greater width at each end of said area. The battle area is divided by cross lines EE into three range divisions, the outer or wider range divisions F indicating the battleship ranges throughout the entire length of the battle area while the gun range of the cruisers is limited to the narrow intermediate gun ,r'ange section G. The destroyers have no effective gun range but are used solely for defensive purposes in a manner presently to be described. At the beginning ,of the game, all of the warships are placed upon and occupy the spaces allotted thereto in the opposed naval bases, and the space N allotted to enemy warshipssunk in action remains empty. The object of the game is to destroy the greatest tonnage of enemy war vessels which for purposes of computation may be given the following numerical values: Aircraft 5 carrier-20,000 tons, battleships each 20,000 tons,

cruisers each 10,000 tons, and destroyers each 2,000 tons.

To begin the game, the players roll the conventional die andthe one having. the highest number starts the game. After that, each player in turn moves the ships of his fleet in conformity with the roll of both dice. The player may move any warship he chooses but it must be moved along the line of travel in conformity with the numerical value given by the throw of the conventional die. An exception, however, is made in the case of destroyers. After a player has moved all of his destroyers into positions in the battle line of travel, he may then move any destroyer any movement up to and including the number indicated on the conventional die. Thus, if the player throws the number 5, he may move a destroyer only three places if he so desires. He will determine this by his judgment as to where the given destroyer will do him the most good in protecting war vessels of greater tonnage or he may move a destroyer only a single space simply to mark time if he chooses. However, if the player elects to move a destroyer less than the total number of his throw, he cannot employ the remaining numerical value on the die for any other purpose.

The object of the movements in ofi'sensive action is to bring the aircraft carrier or one of the battleships or cruisers into effective position to score a hit against an enemy ship occupying a corresponding position in the opposite battle line of travel. Thus, if an enemy warship occupies the space 4 and the player throws this number, which is within battleship range (but not within cruiser range), he will sink the enemy ship assuming that the special die turns up a simple Hit. The ship thus struck is then removed from play and placed in, the area N marked "Enemy warships sunk in action. Any two warships on the same side may occupy the same space, and if a cruiser and a destroyer are thus located, the Hit" registered by the special die is effective in sinking only the lightest warship within said space, leaving the cruiser and battleship opposite one another but dead on each other as long as they remain in that position. If, however, the die had turned up the face indicating Direct hit then the battleship sinks everything on the space opposite. Likewise, if the die had shown "Bad gunnery" it means that no damage is inflicted and the ship is simply moved a number of spaces corresponding to the number indicated on the conventional die.

As'before stated, battleships and aircraft carriers may sink all types of enemy warships within the battleship range which includes the entire extent of the battle area, while the cruiser range is limited to the medial portion of said area. Thus, in cruiser range, a cruiser has the same power as' any other warship and a cruiser may sink a battleship lying opposite when the cruiser moves into position, unless the battleship is protected by another warship of lighter tonnage, in which case the lighter ship will be sunk. If, however, a Direct hit is thrown with the special die. both warships on the opposite space are sunk, while a throw of Bad gunnery completely nullifies the good fortune of having the right number.

Destroyers are used solely for defensive purposes and have no effective. gun range but afford invaluable protection to other warships by protecting them against hits or by forming smoke screens. Heretofore no mention has been made of the employment of smoke screens, but if two destroyers are moved to the same space, they afford a smoke screen for five spaces behind them and warships occupying these spaces are protected from enemy attack. (except froman aircraft carrier) as long as the smoke screen is in effect. However, the sinking of one of the two destroyers laying the smoke screen immediately restores visibility and thereafter ships may be sunk in the spaces previously protected by the smoke screen. The smoke screen may be wiped out, of course, by the voluntary movement of one of the destroyers thus breaking the combination of two destroyers on one space, and any number of smoke screens may be formed by such combinations beginning on space 6, but naturally the destroyers affording the smoke screen are not protected against enemy attack. Two battleships or two cruisers on the same space may also form a smoke screen, but because of the vulnerability of such a move, it is assumed that destroyers will ordinarily be used for this purpose.

Each fleet possesses one aircraft carrier. This ship moves in the same way as all the other ships and for practical purposes has the same power as abattleship with certain special advantages. The aircraft carrier is the only ship which may inflict damage on enemy ships protected by a smoke screen, subject to the rules regarding the special die displaying the indications Hit, Direct hit or Bad gunnery, the theory being that the aircraft carrier dispatches planes to fly beyond the smoke screen and inflict damage. An aircraft carrier is effective in any range. In moving destroyers on the various spaces, they are placedin the outlines indicating sub-divisions in the lines of battle movement. Larger warships should be placed so that the middle of the ship will be on or opposite the number designating the space in order to avoid confusion as to which spaces are occupied. All warships should point in the direction they are travelling and may move only in the one progressive direction from spaces I to IE. Warships on the same side may pass one another continually but never more than two warships may occupy any one space. Some warship must be moved on each throw of the dice, but after a warship has completed its entire line of battle travel from I to I6, it is moved off the board by any throw of a dice sufficient to move through the remaining spaces. For instance, a throw of 5 on the die is suflicient to insure removal of the warship if only three spaces remain, but after removal, it cannot re-enter the battle. It is out of danger from the enemy fleet but its usefulness is exhausted. A player is not required upon the roll of the dice to execute any particular move resulting in immediate damage to the enemy fleet if he does not elect so to do, but may otherwise employ his movements for strategical reasons. However, should he move into a position where damage is indicated, he must sink ghatever he is empowered to by the throw of the ice.

The game as a whole is one which closely simulates the actual conditions of a naval battle and permits the exercise of sound judgment and strategy in the selection of permissible moves while at the same time the element of chance adds greatly to the vicissitudes and the fascination of the game. Although the method of playing the game has been described in full detail, it is possible to introduce variations in details of the play to either simplify or increase the complexity and the permissible strategy without,

vessels along the battle lines in the same direc tion on opposing sides or the battle area, the board being further provided with a plurality of various sized spaces within each maneuvering region for initially receiving war vessel playing pieces and with a single space for receiving playing pieces during progress of the game, the battle area at each of its ends of increased width serving to indicate greater and variable battleship range and being subdivided from the intermediate narrow portion of the battle area which serves to indicate lesser cruiser range.

FREDERICK W. CHANNER, 

